About Us

There is a good chance you found us accidentally by using the word “taint” in your search (If you found us on purpose, you deserve our accolades). Of course we don’t know what you were looking for, but you stumbled on a damn cool project. Look around; let us help send you on a musical journey. Here you will find a number of album reviews from the strange and extreme to the tame and mainstream. Our reviewers are a bunch of obsessive miscreants. Most of us are avid music collectors and have been involved in the music world for decades. A couple of us have been in or are still in bands.

There are no rules on Tickle Your Taint Blog. Our reviewers might make you laugh, or piss you off; both results are legitimate. One reviewer might write a glowing review of an album another might tear it apart. We may end up adopting a single review system, such as five stars, or each reviewer may use his own or none at all. We may have a new review every week or we could end up with one every six months. This blog exists as a social experiment to build community among a diverse group of music maniacs – our reviewers and hopefully you. Pull down your knickers, lube up and join us in tickling yours and our taints.

If you are in a band, have released a physical (rather than an MP3) CD or record, and would like us to review your efforts, contact us at tickleyourtaint@yahoo.com

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Thursday, June 29, 2017

In the late 1980s, I came across a record of Rosalie
Sorrels. I was quite taken by this folksinger, given the combination of
personal and political songs. Her voice was beautiful and gentle. The words
were direct and honest. It was evident that she loved poetry, storytelling, and
the west. I was thrilled to learn that Utah Phillips and her spent a lot of
time traveling and playing music together, while working for social change. She
spent much of her life collecting stories and writing songs in order to share
them with others. In the late 1990s, I saw Sorrels play a concert in a small
coffee shop in Eugene, Oregon. There were twenty to thirty people crowded
together to share the evening. Ken Kesey introduced Sorrels, sharing a couple
short stories about her, highlighting her humanity, the power of her words, and
the importance of art in resistance and social struggle. Sorrels captivated the
audience sharing stories about her comrades and the lives of regular working
folks. Stories and songs were woven together. We fell in love with Idaho and
Utah because of how she recounted her life and experiences in these places.
This week I was saddened to learn that she died June 11, 2017, but am left
appreciating the music she made.

Friday, June 23, 2017

In the
mid-to-late 1990s, a friend gave me Jimmy LaFave’s Buffalo Return to the Plains. I was struck by his emotive, raspy
voice. It was clear he was very talented and had a keen social conscious, based
on his lyrics. Nevertheless, it took several years for me to warm up to his
records. Once I did, I could not get enough.

LaFave was a regular
at Woody Guthrie Folk Festival and was one of the individuals involved in establishing
Red Dirt music, generally associated with a group of Americana musicians from
Oklahoma and Texas. He was also obsessed with Bob Dylan. He was well respected
among fellow folk-country musicians, but he never received broad public
attention.

My favorite
records by him are Blue Nightfall (2005),
Cimarron Manifesto (2007), and Depending on the Distance (2012). Blue Nightfall is a beautiful, moody,
reflective record. I love driving at dusk, while listening to the title track,
as I drift down the road. His slower songs are very calming, giving a sense of
comfort, like sharing an evening with a dear friend.

A couple weeks
ago, I did a search to see if he was touring only to learn that he died in May
from a rare form of cancer. He remained active in the music community until the
end. I hope that more people became fans of the wonderful music that he
created.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Elder’s new record, Reflections of a Floating World,is hands-down the
record of the year for me up to this point. Progressing with each record
into more of a prog band than a doom band, they are now firmly planted within
the proximity of Yes’ classic 1974 release, Relayer—one of my
favorite prog records. The expansion of the group beyond a trio definitely
pays off with a much fuller sound. Elder has few contemporaries treading
similar ground other than Pallbearer or occasionally Earthless. Although I have
a feeling a prog revival is on the way, right on the heels of the heavy psych
trend happening now.

PaulySure:

At some point in your life, you have probably described a
bands album as “perfect”; maybe you were right, maybe you were wrong. Anyways,
here is one instance in which a band put out the perfect album. Reflections of a Floating World by New
England based stoner doom band Elder is that album, and honestly, it is the
whole package. Elder, who got their start a little over a decade ago, have now
put out 4 very solid full-length albums, each one better than the last. Not
only has each individual member become a better musician during that time
period, but somehow it is almost as if this three-piece has morphed into one
unit that is constantly pushing, and reinventing, the genre. With Reflections, it is as if Elder has
dialed back the stoner elements a bit, and upped the progressive elements a
lot, something which have always been present and increasingly prevalent
between albums; needless to say, Elder has not rejected their roots and still
totally follow the smoke to the riff-filled land (this should be an obvious
reference to the band Sleep, if you are unaware of this, fix it and go check
them out).

So, given this information, what makes Reflections of a Floating World a perfect album? Everything!
Clocking in at a little over an hour long, the 6 songs take you on a musical
journey. One moment you’re in heavy, stoner-y, cathartic bliss; then
suddenly enjoying a new rhythmic almost pop-y prog melody (synths included),
and then you’re on to another change of tempo that now involves the prog and
the doom. It’s like you have experienced four or five different songs before
the track is even over, the layers on these songs are absolutely stimulating.
And what’s even more impressive is that it doesn’t seem like any one member is
trying to stand out from the other, they all work together and blend together
perfectly; even in terms of volume. Lastly, in my opinion, there is not a stand
out track. That may sound like a negative, but on the contrary, this album is
meant to be listened to start to finish; it a stand out album. Throw in
the amazing artwork, and as I said, this album is perfection. If you’re not
listening to Elder, you’re not really living!

Dave:

It’s a well written record. It hits on a lot of the better
elements of Pelican and expands on these ideas, except this Elder record isn’t
as has heavy as Pelican. I like the fact that they are having fun. There is
some enthusiastic lead guitar, that breaks the anti-guitar-hero mold, which I
appreciate. I also really like the references to Yes and a little Don Caballero
on this record. I think there are the high points that might bring me back to
listen to it again. It’s a hip record that fits nicely into popular sounds,
which frankly bore me.

Five-Inch Taint:

For me, this album is, hands down, the best of the year. It
will be difficult for any other record to top it. Probably what I appreciate
most about Reflections is that, no
matter how you listen to it, the music is stellar throughout. While Elder may be reflecting on a
floating world, listening to this album makes me feel like I am floating in
this world. My first two or three listens were while driving in the car, with
the music playing in the background. The continuity within and between songs,
the sexy riffs, and even the more proggy elements, make these songs a joy to
listen to. As I was driving in my car the first time listening to the CD, I
only made it through the first two tracks, as I had traveled the twenty minutes
to my destination. Not once did I notice how long those two songs were. Rather,
I was caught up in the beautiful continuity that runs throughout the album.
Casually listening I was hooked. When I was able to dedicate some time to
listen to the entire album, I was drawn in even more. It was the big hooks and
riffs that captured my attention initially, but upon further listening the
little intricacies make this an unmatchable album for me. Elder seems to have added layers
to their music compared to their previous albums without falling into the trap
of just filling up space. The songs, while having a sweeping continuity to
them, have a tremendous amount of discontinuity and change, moving to a new
time signature in rhythm mid-song, seamlessly. What is beautiful about this
album is that the complexity of the song structure (and the organization of the
album itself) is not for the sake of complexity, but is more about pushing
their music to new levels. Reflections
depth, continuity, and discontinuity and its listenability (in both casual and
focused settings) makes this the best album of the year for me.

SoDak:

The last several months, I have been eagerly looking forward
to Elder’s Reflections of a Floating
World—perhaps more than any other record this year. I saw Elder play three
times the last couple of years. They blew me away each time. Plus, they just
got better with each performance. Reflections
is an exceptional record. Each song is a masterpiece that is captivating,
shifting between and blurring lines between doom, progressive, and stoner
traditions. The guitars, bass, and drums intersect perfectly. On the second
song, “The Falling Veil,” which I think is great, I do not think the keyboards
add anything of value to the song. But this is a minor issue. The layered
guitar parts create a beautiful, intricate dance within each song. I am enthralled
by the guitar work, where the rhythm and the lead create a feeling that I am
being taken on an epic journey.

Sunday, June 18, 2017

My father had Pick’s disease, which is type of frontotemporal
dementia. He had it for at least fifteen years, so it was a long decline. For the
last ten years of his life, memory loss became more pronounced. He had a
limited ability to hold a conversation or to communicate generally, beyond
simple questions or one-line comments. When my mother would come home from
work, my father would walk to the door to see her. She needed a husband to ask
her how her day at work was, to help cook the meal, to make future plans. He
was “present,” waiting for her to share her thoughts, but the silence was
weighty. Few words passed his lips. A stare does not satisfy the need for meaningful
exchange. Obviously, life does not turn out the way we want.

I have been listening obsessively to Jason Isbell’s song “If
We Were Vampires,” from his record, The
Nashville Sound (2017). This beautiful acoustic song hits the heart,
reflecting upon the limited time we have with a loved one and the importance of
these moments together.

It’s knowing that this
can’t go on forever

Likely one of us will
have to spend some days alone.

Maybe we’ll get forty
years together, but one day I’ll be gone

or one day you’ll be
gone.

Love ends for so many reasons, but it is never long enough.
While my father was absent in my mother’s life in many ways,
given the retreat associated with his disease, his death created discernable
void. No one waited for her at the door when she returned from work; no one was
there to share a meal. The bed was colder, without his warmth next to her. Any plans
she had for how they would spend their retirement years together were
extinguished.

If we were vampires
and death was a joke

we’d go out on the
sidewalk and smoke

and laugh at all the
lovers and their plans.

I wouldn’t feel the
need to hold your hand.

Death is the shadow we often ignore, pretending mortality is
on the distant horizon. The days slip away, without appreciating the moments we
share.

Maybe time running out
is a gift.

I’ll work hard ‘til
the end of my shift.

Give you every second
I can find

and hope it isn’t me
who’s left behind.

With every listen of this song, I think of my parents,
especially my mother the last eleven years since my father’s death. I also reflect
upon my own relationship of the last twenty-three years, wondering who is going
to be left behind, while hoping to make the time we have together matter.